The Senate unanimously confirmed Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart as the agency’s top agent Wednesday. Leonhart has been the DEA’s acting chief since November 2007.
She has proven her leadership to be anti-science, pro-lying, pro-death and destruction, and devoid of competence, so the Senate decided she was perfect for this job.
Leonhart said in a statement: “I am dedicated to meeting the challenges that DEA faces, from disrupting and dismantling extremely violent Mexican based drug cartels; to defeating narco-terrorists operating in Afghanistan and around the world; and doing all we can to reduce prescription drug abuse, our nation’s fastest growing drug threat.”
[Thanks, Tom]
It is just like the Texas two-step,2 steps forward,1 step back.
As more and more citizens,conservatives,liberals and everything in between join the call for ending prohibition,
our congress drives it’s head farther up it’s ass with stupid moves.
Oakland Shelves Large-Scale Pot-Growing Plan
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703814804576036153954755740.html?mod=ITP_pageone_1
Smart move,no need of giving all that investment to Michelle!
Let us all pray that this is the last god-awful drug warrior to sail through the senate in this way.
This is the “change” we voted for, right? Leonhart represents the worst of the DEA. She stands for the dirtiest tactics. She stands for suffering inflicted on the powerless (nursing-home pain med rules that don’t allow patients in intractable pain to have access to pain medication). She stands for lying under oath.
Look for all the worst of the DEA to shine through under Leonhart. And if they were ever going to use tactics like going after legalization advocates, I’d expect her to be on point.
So, I’d be on the watch for the guy you just met who has the “sick Aunt”, and just wants to find her some “medicine”…..(they tried that once already on…ahem….a friend).
gee, what a shock
Ever heard of the ‘Tactics of Mistake’?
from the link:
“The heart of his military strategy, based in part on fencing, is what he labels the “tactics of mistake,” enticing one’s opponent into overreaching, and being ready to take advantage of the mistake.”
I think I smell a Machiavellian bureaucratic trap…one meant for Ms. Leonhart. There may be some knives aimed right at her back…and by derivation, her agency’s.
Since only an amoral, cunning opportunist – or an abject, contemptible fool – would take on the job (and there don’t appear to be any other aforementioned fools available), Ms. Leonhart is ‘it’ in the game of bureaucratic musical chairs cum Russian Roulette that is ‘drug control’ administration.
She’s welcome to conning a rusting hulk full of scurrying rats. One that could be torpedoed by Congress out of political (as in ‘economic’) expediency at any moment.
At the next (and you may bet good money on there being a next) economic downturn, you may soon hear from Congress the polite bureaucratese for “Ready Tubes One and Two, and open outer doors…”. With the kind of ‘big, black marks’ from past OMB reports of ‘drug control’ bureaucracies like the ONDCP, berating their effectiveness, it’s only a matter of time before those reports are loaded into those tubes at just the right moment of opportunity, and fired.
I think it was part of Obama’s capitulate before negotiate strategy of simply giving into Republican wishes. He doesn’t want to spend any of his political capital on this issue.
He doesn’t want to expend “political Capitol” on ANY issue. What he and his corporate cronies want is “more of the same”, and that’s what we’re getting.
darkcycle, in 1992 a bunch of us potheads took a car trip to New Hampshire because we heard that there were a bunch of politicians trying to get elected POTUS. If you’ve never been to New Hampshire the week before the primary it is a surreal spectacle indeed. At any point in time day or night you can turn a corner and wind up facing partisans of any and every stripe having an impromptu rally. Which leads me to the point of this post.
We were walking around Nashua one evening after dinner. The temps were amazingly mild for New Hampshire in February. We had run into a cohort of the College Republicans for Bush and darn near ended up in a rumble because they were trying to get in front of us because a guy was filming. I don’t know if those idiots ever did figure out he was one of us, not from the media. After that we walked about 2 blocks and ran into a crown of perhaps 100 people from the Socialist party. By then I was tripping like a young Timothy Leary. The Socialists were chanting “THE PEOPLE WANT CHANGE” at the top of their lungs and I could just imagine a candidate coming out to the podium and with a bag full of quarters, nickles, dimes, pennies, and the odd looney and start throwing them to the crowd who would quit chanting, cheer, and then start to fight with one another about how they should redistribute it to the people.
I say if the people want change, give it to them. I’ll hold out for currency and/or precious metals.
Gosh, I think that little walk can give some perspective about how surreal the event was. College Republicans for Bush and Socialists less than 2 blocks away, not to forget that the motley crew of potheads tripping on acid that connected the 2 extremes of political philosophy. Christ on a cross I didn’t realize that there were that many Socialists in the entire country.
Anyway, that’s what runs through my mind whenever a politician or special interests advocate says in a very somber tone of authority that the people want change. Heck I still recall the day Robert Reich made a speech supporting an increase in the Federal minimum wage, and actually brought a bottle of change up to the podium as a visual aid and I started laughing maniacally.
I chased Nixon and his cavalcade down the road with about 500 other hippies in Ohio when he was campaigning for his second tour and we ran into the Nazi party area,,,,,,,,
very interesting.
A Christmas present from Uncle.
“By then I was tripping like a young Timothy Leary. The Socialists were chanting “THE PEOPLE WANT CHANGE†at the top of their lungs and I could just imagine a candidate coming out to the podium and with a bag full of quarters, nickles, dimes, pennies, and the odd looney and start throwing them to the crowd who would quit chanting, cheer, and then start to fight with one another about how they should redistribute it to the people.”
Oh, Jeez! ROFLMFAO! Thank you, Duncan! You’ve made my day with that mental image!
I’m stuck at work because the bigwigs can’t pull their thumbs out of their collective arses and make a decision about letting us go early, and I was in a foul mood. You brightened my day!
Nemo, drop to the floor and feign a head injury. Spill your coffee in you lap and tell the boss it’s “Christmas incontinence”…Look out the window, scream “Oh my GOD, they’re landing!” and run out the door. Don’t stop ’till you get home, and for god’s sake, man, don’t pick up the phone if it’s ringing when you get there. Maybe after Christmas and New Year, they’ll forget it happened. Always worked for me….
The Obama Admin’s Anti-Marijuana Manifesto (thread)
Michele Leonhart.jpg
As Medical Marijuana Proliferates, Pot Prices Decline Nationwide
Recreational users of marijuana are seeing price cuts on the street thanks to the growing number of states that have approved the drug for medicinal use.
California State Conference of the NAACP
December 23, 2010
Dear Friend,
During this holiday season, we gather with our loved ones, reflect on the year, and think about what we’re thankful for.
As President of the California State NAACP, I decided to take a stand in support of California’s Proposition 19, which would have installed a system of taxation and regulation of cannabis. In too many of our neighborhoods, entering the drug trade has become a path of least resistance. The statistics on minority incarceration are stark, and drug offenses play a central role. According to a 2008 Pew report called “1 in 100,” more than one out of every 100 adults in the US is incarcerated. Whereas this is the case for 1 in 106 white males over the age of 18, 1 in 15 black males over 18 are in prison – and 1 in 9 black men ages 18 to 34. The figure is 1 in 36 for adult Latino males. A huge number of those in US prisons are there for drug related offenses. Drug infractions are generally regarded as felonies. Former felons have a very difficult time getting a job, meaning the most likely place for them to turn in order to earn a living is the drug trade.
In the face of these figures – which represent a staggering number of lives damaged or destroyed – I felt I had to speak out. When I did so, one of the first organizations to offer support was Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). Executive Director Neill Franklin called me right away and said LEAP would stand side-by-side with me as we spread the message of the disproportionate harms of the drug war on minorities. Neill and LEAP, a group of extraordinary police officers, judges, DAs and other members of law enforcement, were true to their word. They were a significant presence in California at a crucial moment, and helped many people to reconsider their point of view.
In the same way that LEAP was there to support me and others involved in Proposition 19, I write to urge you to support LEAP. It is vital to have law enforcement calling for change. So this holiday season, as you reflect on everything you’re thankful for, I hope you’ll join me in making a contribution of $10 or more to LEAP. I rarely ask for people to contribute to organizations other than the NAACP – but because they are such an important voice in this movement we’re building together, I want to be sure we support them just as they supported me during the campaign.
Thank you so much, and have a wonderful holiday.
Sincerely,
Alice Huffman
President
….you all better brace for Medical marijuana raids. The DEA and Lionheart dont care where in the world you live, if you consume cannabis, your in their crosshairs.
Yes clay I agree with you Texas two steps forward two steps back from our stupid ass Congress, is not their approval rating still lingering at 13 percent Yup and yes I agree from WELL HERE WE GO…. yes I quess there will be Medical Marijuana Raids but yup this pessimist sees folks not in mood for it more and more folk using it medically daily and more books journals, and Yes Doctors and Articles in papers its still quite a strong Barage fighting back and CNBC recently played Marijuana documentary old 2009 and newer one and there was one on a dish channel name escapes me saw it on You-Tube also ACLU and other groups are taking up these causes Yeah M. LeaonHart will bite in the Butt hard but there is more resistence out there pot is becoming more normally entrenched and more folks are organized. more states have it on Ballots coming up. and PROMINIENT Doctors who worked for republican administrations and others are slowing trickling out every couple of months in support that counts for some.and Yes Ddc groups like Leap are making a great significance too. I heard Leap on a varity of talk show Jason LEWIS IS A CONSERVATIVE on talk radio who subs for Rush sometimes but he gets it has come in favor of ending drug war,has taken flack for it and still goes with it. been listening to him for a while he is a conservative who is truly compassionate at least on this issue somewhat. Its going to be interesting next couple of months has Bette Davis used to say in that movie Fasten your set belts it going to be a bumpy ride.
Ha! My two year old son just asked me to tell all of you Merry Christmas! I think that’s the longest sentance he’s popped off with to date! So, from Asha, Merry Christmas to all on the Rant. And from darkcycle, too.
Merry Christmas to Pete for starting this wonderful Rant place to air our thoughts on this and all of you also and hopes for a great New Year for our Family Friends and the onward compassionate surge for Freedom of Medicine,recreational use of Cannabis and Diet and anything else you all deem needs freeing up. Luv Vicky Vampire..
May she rise to the level of her own incompetence.
With Michele Leonhart in charge, we’ll watch the morgues.
It could be worse. The senate could have confirmed someone competent, someone capable of providing a shinier patina to the load of crap that comprises the DEA.
This way, the DEA incorporates the seed of its own self destruction in the form of one Michele M. Leonhart.
Watching prohibition crumble is easier than toppling it.
Servetus, my take on it is that she and her entire agency have been consigned to a leper colony. One that has a nuke buried underneath it.
That nuke could go off when the economy gets worse and some Federal legislator wants to prove to his or constituency that they’re doing their job by ‘cutting waste’.
Well, in such a case, that would be an easy move to make. Just dig up all the old DEAWatch posts and read of the flagrant racism, bigotry, misogyny, shameless suggestions to use national tragedies like 9/11 to feather bureaucratic nets, etc. Do that in conjunction with a Congressional investigation, then that nuke will detonate.
For nobody wanting to be re-elected and continue to gorge at the Federal trough would want to come to the aid of Leonhart when it was there in black and white what her own people thought of her, what they thought of their own agency, how little respect they had for the taxpayers, women, minorities, etc.
The nuke under the leper colony is just waiting for the detonation code. Give the economy a few more nudges down the sewer pipe, and it just might go off.
Kaptinemo, you’re right about the DEA. They don’t even have the sense of rats to desert a sinking ship.
Oh, well. It’s their problem.
According to some economists, the next economic crisis involves the states’ economies. State governments have just been through the denial phase, and now they realize they’re bankrupt. States’ drug enforcement may fall upon the DEA whether the feds like it or not. Prohibitionists, in any event, are about to live in some interesting times.
I wonder if she realizes she should legalize the natural, non toxic,non lethal, herbal remedy-cannabis, to get the public off toxic,lethal,addictive prescription drugs.Maybe she should offer the public a safe alternative to prescription drugs?